Dr. Svahn defended his doctoral thesis at Karolinska Institutet in 2007. Parts of his work was funded by Fernström scholarship, conducted at Rockefeller and Columbia University in New York, exploring high-through-put technology for siRNA drug development. He has since then experience from both small cell therapy companies and big pharma. Dr. Svahn co-founded NextCell Pharma, listed on Nasdaq First North in 2017 and has raised approximately 30 MUSD. The primary drug candidate, ProTrans, is an allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cell product, developed for immunomodulatory purposes. Efficacy and safety have been shown in the protection of endogenous insulin production in patients with type-1 diabetes. Currently, NextCell has completed phase 2 trials in type-1 diabetes and has 4 clinical trials ongoing in type-1 diabetes and severe pneumonia induced by COVID-19. Trials are sponsored by NextCell, Uppsala University in Sweden and McGill University in Montreal Canada